LONDON – Former British Prime Minister David Cameron was appointed as the new UK foreign secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle today.
Cameron, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016, took the new role after James Cleverly, who was foreign secretary, replaced Suella Braverman as the home secretary.
Braverman was sacked by current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier in the day after a row with police over protests in London, reported Anadolu Agency.
King Charles III has confirmed Cameron as a life peer in the House of Lords, enabling him to take up the post as he is currently not an MP.
Cameron said Sunak has asked him to serve as foreign secretary and he has “gladly accepted.”
The Prime Minister has asked me to serve as his Foreign Secretary and I have gladly accepted.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 13, 2023
We are facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. At this time of profound global change, it has rarely been more…
Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, said that bringing Cameron back into the government shows that the Conservative Party is “completely out of ideas and utterly out of touch.”
Braverman, after being removed from the government, said: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary. I will have more to say in due course.”
She is the Conservative Party MP for Fareham, and was in office from September 2022.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf, who earlier called on her to resign, said: “There should be a General Election now.”
“Never has someone been so unfit for public office as Suella Braverman … The Tories are out of ideas and out of time, there should be a General Election now,” he wrote on X.
The sacking came after a row over her controversial remarks on pro-Palestinian protests and her article in The Times newspaper that met with massive criticism.
Earlier, she had called pro-Palestine protests in the UK “hate marches.”
In an article in The Times, she said: “I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza.”
She also accused the Metropolitan Police of “playing favourites” with protesters, after the London police force decided not to seek a ban on a planned march on Armistice Day. – November 13, 2023